Nine in the Afternoon
by StarfireFowl
Summary: Alice and Frank are a little different than everyone else. They're a little more in love than anyone can understand.


I.

Frank Longbottom is not a happy camper. Today is supposed to be his day in Diagon Alley. But no, his parents denied him all the fits he had asked for. And now they have to take a lousy bus to fit in with the Muggles. He refuses to go near his parents, so he sits two seats in front of them with a man who won't stop talking to the people in front of him.

"Frank..." His mother's voice is distinct above everyone else's, the sternness cutting through. It only makes things worse. He crosses his arms and sinks lower into his seat.

"Alice, stop pestering your mother!" The man beside him speaks crossly. A childish giggle comes from the seat in front of Frank as a blonde head suddenly appears above the seat. Frank feels his anger start to dissipate. The girl is smiling too brightly and her round face radiates too much happiness. The clear blue eyes are what make his breath pause for a second... then he remembers his anger.

"Can we trade seats, Daddy?" The girl asks him, never taking her eyes off of Frank. Her father groans and moves, allowing Alice to sit beside him. It's the first time he gets to see the dark blue dress she's wearing and he hears his mother gasp two seats back. A smile crawls onto his face, knowing he's shocked her.

"I'm Alice. What's your name? Why aren't you sitting with your parents?" She seems to ask him a million questions at once, but her smile makes it impossible to ignore her.

"I'm Frank Longbottom." He waits for the usual snicker to come from the girl, but her huge blue eyes are focused solely on him, begging him to continue. "It's my birthday today, but my parents haven't bought me anything."

"Happy Birthday!" Alice seems even more gleeful. "I'm sorry they haven't gotten you anything. I could always go over there and talk to them for you. Maybe I could get them to switch seats with me and you can tell them how you feel. How old are you today, by the way?"

"Thank you, but that won't work. They think that because I'm going away to school in another month that I should wait and spend my birthday money then. So I'm not going to talk to them. And I am eleven." Frank responds to all her questions in order. She smiles pleasantly, as if she enjoys his answers.

"I have a lollipop if you'd like it. It'll be my birthday present to you, Frank Longbottom." Alice reaches into a small bag beside her and pulls out a chocolate lollipop of a rabbit. She hands it to him and he's suddenly smiling as much as she is.

"Thank you, Alice." Frank pulls the wrapper off as fast as he can and begins to eat it. Alice smiles, and then stands up. Frank's sudden confusion makes her laugh. "Where are you going?"

"It's my stop. Enjoy your birthday, Frank Longbottom." Alice nods before following her parents off teh bus. He watches her walk with them on the crowded street. He doesn't even care that his mother will yell at him later. He's too happy eating his only birthday present from that day.

II.

Alice doesn't forget faces easily. She remembers Frank on the first day of Hogwarts as the boy from the bus, but he never seems to notice her. She lets it slide though because of how many new things are going on. She has classes with him and she sees him all the time, but they're not placed together until their third year divination class.

Professor Morrell says she sees that her and Frank will be together for a while, starting with this moment. Alice can't help but agree. Frank's been getting much taller and his eyes are so kind to everyone. She thinks he's rather good looking, as opposed to the other childish boys in her grade. She doesn't really realize she likes him until she goes and tries to speak to him.

"I see death in your future. And maybe a terrifying run in with an insane person." She jokes, fiddling with the white ribbon in her pigtails. It doesn't exactly match her robes, but she felt like making her hair look cute for Frank.

"Where do you see that? There's nothing in the book about crazy people either." Frank retorts, peering into his divination textbook.

"Maybe if you actually read the book..."

"I did! I even did the homework!"

"Five minutes before class..."

"Well, I'm sorry but not everyone can turn in their homework a day early with perfect penmanship."

"Speaking of perfect penmanship, who taught you how to write? You write neater than most girls!" By this point, most of the class had finished with their predictions, beginning to talk about other things. No one has their eyes on them. Alice feels like being daring for a moment. She dips her finger in the tea leaves, catching a few leaves on her finger. Her hand brushes against the sleeve of Frank's white shirt, tea leaves staining the sleeve. He didn't realize it though because his troubled eyes were focusing on his textbook. Alice smirks.

Professor Morrell dismisses their class and Frank goes to leave. Alice continues smirking as several people laugh at Frank's tea-covered arm. Alice just keeps walking. She hears Frank come to the realization she'd tricked him and hears him shout after her.

"Letham!" Frank shouts. She walks by a set of first years coming back from dinner with cherry pie in their hands.

"I wasn't the one that did that." Alice shouts back at him, grinning.

"Letham!" Frank yells again. She hears him stop dead in his tracks. She thinks nothing of it until she feels something hit her in the back of the head. She turns and watches the piece of cherry pie drop to the ground. She puts her hand to her head and feels the cherry filling squish under her fingers. Her hand then moves up to her ribbons, knowing that they are now red instead of white.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor," one of the prefects yell. Alice ignores them, just staring at Frank bitterly. Frank's face matches her.

"This is war."

III.

They'd been at war for ten months now. Ten months of arguing and stupid pranks on each other has led them to the end of their third year as mortal enemies. Yet, they sit with each other the entire carriage ride to the train, each poking the other nonstop in the arm.

"You realize I have to go an entire summer without bothering you? That's going to be so boring." Alice giggles, still poking him.

"No, you won't. I'll write you all the time. And I'll be sure to come visit." Frank smirks. "I just won't tell you when I show up and launch a surprise attack of dancing mice or something."

"Ew! You wouldn't!" Alice shrieks. Marlene McKinnon who's sitting across from them rolls her eyes. Kingsley watches them with an amused expression. Alice knows Kingsley is used to this.

"I would. But they'd be dancing. You'd like it," Frank smiles. Smiles like this that make her remember the first time they met. She hasn't told him that she was the one who turned his eleventh birthday around, but she knows that he'll connect it eventually.

"But mice scare me. Does that mean I have to find something that would scare you?"

"You don't know anything that scares me."

"Yes, I do. You're afraid I'll win the poking war." Alice giggles again as the carriage stops at the train. She pokes him again before hopping out of the carriage with her bags.

Marlene gives Frank a smirk. "When are you going to tell her?"

"Tell her what?" He doesn't even look at Marlene as he speaks. He's too busy concentrating on Alice running off towards the train and the quickest route to get her back.

"That you love her," Marlene sings the words.

"She's just..." Frank begins, but stops. I've got to go after her." None of them know the actual context he means it in, but he takes off after Alice. Marlene and Kingsley just laugh.

Frank darts through the crowd of students, trying desperately to remember which direction Alice took off in. He sees her blonde curls running in the opposite direction. She boards the train and vanishes from his sight. He keeps running after her, not caring about the younger kids he knocks over on his way.

On the train, there's no one to push through and there's no noise. Neither is supposed to be on the train yet. There are over a hundred compartments but he knows exactly where to find her. She's in number 111, where she sits every time she makes the journey.

He opens the door to the compartment, looking around for Alice. She sits on the left side, staring up at him. The grin on her face makes him smile too.

"Ah, so you're not too bad at remembering things." Alice comments.

"And you are awful at remembering rules." Frank smirks, sitting next to her. His hand is instantly at her shoulder, poking her arm by habit.

"No. I chose to break it. There's a difference. You just can't remember anything important." Alice's other hand is at his shoulder, poking him back. Frank looks confused.

"I remember that we started this war in October and that I met you my first day of Hogwarts..."

"You're wrong." Alice smirks.

"How?"

"We met July 23, before we started Hogwarts. It was your birthday and you were miserable. So I gave you a lollipop." Frank suddenly looks amazed.

"I thought I had seen you before."

"But you didn't remember."

"Nope."

"Spoiled, little kid that you were." Alice jokes.

"I'm sorry." Frank says, but his words are swallowed up by others boarding the train. She gives him a small smile, but doesn't say anything. Minutes pass in this silence, but neither of them really minds. Each is too busy figuring things out.

Frank now knows one more reason why he likes Alice so much. She was the one who fixed his bad days and made him smile when he really didn't want to. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been miserable since their war had begun.

Alice, on the other hand, feels her mood slowly sinking. She begins to doubt her relationship with Frank for a moment. They were enemies, regardless of her initial kindness, but her brain keeps telling her that they're _a lot_ more than that. She's just so disappointed in both of them.

"I win." Frank says quietly. "You haven't poked me for about a minute now." She notices that his hand has moved down to hers. He holds on for a second before he begins to play with her fingers. "Your hand seems to be okay, but you stopped."

She gives him a small smile and goes to say something, but then the door opens and Lily Evans comes to talk to her. She throws herself into the conversation to avoid saying what she was about to say to Frank. Her hand is still in those though.

When the sweets cart comes, he takes off after it, claiming he owes Kingsley a chocolate frog. It's then that Alice finally tells Lily.

"I like Frank." Alice sighs. "I like my enemy. He can't even remember the first time we met and I like him. Hell! I could even love him. I don't know! Ugh, Lily!"

Lily laughs. 'It's about time! Everyone else has known for months now. And of course he's crazy about you."

"But what if he forgets again? Or lets me down?" Again, Lily laughs at her.

"Remind him. And he won't let you down. You turned his birthday around for him, I guarantee you he'll do the same for you." Lily assures her, standing up. She goes to walk out, but makes a comment first. "Also, was he holding your hand when I walked in? You two look so cute together."

Alice thinks a second about her and Frank's hands clasped together. It makes her smile. What also makes her smile is the fact that the door opens again and he walks in, two chocolate lollipops in his hands. Her eyes go wide and a smile is lighting up her face.

"This is for you." He smiles back, giving her one of the lollipops. "I'm repaying you for when you gave me that lollipop a few years ago."

"Thank you." Alice barely believes it. Lily was right in saying that he could turn things around for her as well. He just did. The two eat their lollipops in silence, occasionally poking the other. They spend the rest of their train ride making fun of the other in various ways, but Alice's depression is long gone, as is any real cruelness in their jokes. The train ride doesn't last long enough for either of them. Neither wants to sit around their house all summer and waste their days away missing the other.

The train stops in London and everyone is expected to get off right away. Alice sits there even after the train has stopped and people are getting off. Frank goes to get up, but sees her sitting down.

"Why aren't you getting ready to go?" Frank asks her. She stands up, making it seem like she's ready to go. Instead of actually moving forward, she throws her arms around Frank and gives him a gigantic hug.

"I don't want to leave you yet." Alice sighs. Frank hugs her back, his mind and heart suddenly rushing.

"I don't want you to go yet either." He tells her. She pulls away from him for a second to give him a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"We have to though. But my threats are true. I'll write you all holiday." She smiles at him brightly. "I'll see you again soon."

She then grabs all her belongings and takes off, leaving Frank alone in the room. He smiles and thinks to himself how amazing it was that she was able to turn saying goodbye into a good thing.

IV.

It's sixth year and Alice hates herself for a minute. There is so much that could go wrong with the situation she's in. If her parents were to walk in, she'd be killed. She hates herself for worrying- for flinching at the slightest noise. She's so scared though.

And then Frank kisses her and all the fear disappears. They lie together on her couch, pretending to be doing schoolwork. They haven't even started their essays for history of magic yet. She can never focus when he sits beside her and keeps a hand on her back.

The pull apart for air and her face is so close to his she can see all the imperfections of his skin. She kisses them, letting him know she loves them anyway. He does nothing but lie there with his arms around her waist. Alice runs her fingers through his hair, playing with the dark strands she adores.

"You're beautiful." He says it before she can say it to him. She thinks it though. She loves the crooked smile he gives her and the way his eyes are half-closed. He looks so happy.

"So are you." Alice whispers back, allowing him to kiss her neck gently. His hands start to wander and she really doesn't care anymore. Instead, she talks into his ear. "When we're done with auror training, I'm marrying you."

The smile on his face makes her heart beat even faster. "I was going to wait and propose to you halfway through training, but now I don't think I can wait. I think I will a few months after we get out of Hogwarts."

Alice can't help but kiss him again. She's going to marry him. She's known it for a while now, but it's wonderful to hear it. They keep kissing, like they always do, but there's something new. There's now this underlying feeling in her that this is how it will always be for them. They are official. It is wonderful.

They stay like this for a while until they hear Alice's parents coming down the stairs towards the living room. She keeps her arm around him, even when her parents give her a warning look. Frank kisses her once before he floos him, in front of her parents. The second he's gone, they begin to freak out.

"I don't like this one bit, Alice," Mrs. Letham states, glaring at her daughter.

"He keeps touching you," Her father comments. He looks absolutely disgusted with Alice. She can already feel the anger bubbling up inside of her.

"So?" Alice retorts. She's heard the stories from her parents' youth, where they had been wild, crazy teenagers. She doesn't understand how her family has such a problem with her being in love.

"So... you're too young to settle down. Why don't you dump him and try other boys?" This makes Alice even angrier. Her mother is encouraging her to date around. She thought for sure her father would against this, but then he speaks again.

"Your brother seems to have the right idea."

"Let Gregor date everyone else in the world. I just want to be with Frank." Alice declares before storming out of the room. Her parents have always been so strict with her over the years and now they were just being ridiculous. She wasn't too young to be in love. Not when she's in a love that's strong enough to make her stand up against her parents.

In her room, she begins to write a letter to Frank, explaining what her parents have said. She needs to tell someone. She doubts that he'll respond, but she's willing to try anyway. She's always willing to try anything to be with Frank.

Athena, her owl, knows the way to Frank's house without having to think from all the letters she's sent him over the years. She lets the owl out into the dark sky before she finally begins to cry. Alice then crawls into bed and hides herself under the blankets.

She doesn't remember ever falling asleep, but a loud tap on her window wakes her up. The clock on her wall reads a little past midnight. Alice has a feeling she knows exactly what's going on. Frank's always discussed with her that one night he'd come visit her and get to see her room for the first time. She just never knew when he'd show up.

He's at the window though, his face hovering back and forth. She doesn't even contemplate how he got to her second story window (though she finds out later he took his Nimbus 950.) She just runs to the window. She allows him in, almost as amazed as she seems.

"I got your letter and came over as soon as I could. I'm so sorry." Frank puts his arms around her waist. She feels herself smile against her own will. This is what Frank always does to her.

"I am too. I am so sick of no one believing in us anymore. First your parents will only let us be together at select times and now my parents want us to date other people! Why don't they get it... I love you, no one else. They seem to think we're just like every other couple out there who's just going to end. But we're not. We're not everyone else. You're too sweet and I need you too much. There is no life for me without you. It's just so stupid that no one else can see that." Alice speaks into his shoulder, letting Frank's scent fill her mind.

"Calm down."

"How can I? It's so, so ridiculous." Alice finds it so hard to keep her voice quiet. She's fighting back tears too.

"I know. But we'll be fine." Frank assures her, kissing her hair. "We always are."

She then kisses him from the first time since he arrived. She lets everything go into the kiss- all her anger and frustration. But what dominates her passion is just how much she loves the boy in front of her.

"I ought to get going. Mum would kill me if she knew I went flying in the middle of the night. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Frank keeps their noses touching as he speaks, his eyes darting from Alice's eyes back down to her mouth.

"You are amazing." Alice smiles at him, kissing him once more. "Now go before your mum gets mad."

He leaves through the window, grinning like an idiot. Alice goes back to sleep, the same grin etched on her face.

V.

Alice never thought it would happen. She always had this strange feeling that something would occur. With a war going on, there is no guarantees that anyone will be able to stay happy. Yet, somehow, her and Frank survived.

She spent months and months planning a wedding she thought for sure would be canceled. Alice always told Frank her fears on that matter and every time he told her that nothing was going to stop them. Now she believed him.

The wedding is held at Frank's home. All the prominent wizarding families from the Order are there, all looking happy for the first time in months. Alice watches with Lily Potter from behind a tree in the yard.

"Alice, don't' worry. This day will be wonderful for you. Everyone's known that you two would end up like this for years. Don't you remember the conversation I had with you on the train back in third year?" Lily reassures her. Alice smiles, but plays with a strand of curls on her shoulder. She feels like a princess in her white dress, her sequined pattern shining in the July sunlight.

"I know. I'm not worried. Now I'm just impatient. I'm looking forward to the after wedding." Alice smirks. She hears Lily laugh, but her eyes are on the crowd, trying to find Frank. Instead, she hears Dorcas begin playing the piano and knows it's time.

Alice follows Lily into the ceremony, still looking for Frank. When her eyes finally find him, she still can't believe it is happening. Frank gives her this big, crooked smile that instantly brings a smile to her own face. In another few minutes, she will be Mrs. Frank Longbottom. In another few minutes, they will prove everyone wrong. But until then, all Alice can do is think of three words, over and over and over and over.

"I love you."

A/N: Written as a Valentine's Day gift to my boyfriend. Named after the new Panic at the Disco song. Reviews are loved, flames are hated, and constructive criticism wins at life.


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